The Bangladesh political party, Awami League, released a voice note recorded by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina describing her escape from certain death. In the audio clip, the 77-year-old leader trembles as she hails Allah for saving her life and accuses her political opponents of trying to kill her. Hasina, who has been living in Delhi since she escaped Dhaka last August, described her narrow escape from the country under extreme danger.
Close Call with Death
In this audio note, Sheikh Hasina, the speaker, recounts how both she and her sister, Rehana, narrowly dodged death on August 5, 2024. She fled from the country in 20 to 25 minutes before the violent mob entered her home, leaving behind all of her possessions and abandoning her role as the prime minister. In the message, Hasina claimed that it was the will of Allah that had saved her from death as she recalled the earlier attempts to assassinate her in which she had narrowly escaped death.
“We escaped death by just 20-25 minutes,” she says in the emotional recording. “Surviving the killings on August 21, surviving the bomb in Kotalipara, or surviving on August 5, 2024, there must be a will of Allah, the hand of Allah.”. Otherwise, I would not have come out alive this time. Yesterday, the ex-premier spoke to reporters about the deadly grenade attack on August 21, 2004, which killed at least 24 people, and the Kotalipara bomb conspiracy in July 2000, where perpetrators planted explosives at a college she was scheduled to visit.
Politics and Extradition Demands
Hasina, who faces corruption charges in Bangladesh, revealed that her political rivals plotted to kill her but failed because she believes Allah still has much for her to do. She became overcome with emotion in the recording and detailed how much the experience had affected her. “I am suffering, I am without my country, my home, everything has been burned,” she said emotionally.
Bangladesh has demanded her return to the home country, making the situation highly political. However, India’s foreign ministry confirmed that it has received this demand but refused to comment further. The escape of the leader of Bangladesh’s Awami League and the violence that characterized this event has precipitated political action, with cries for her to return to Bangladesh to face corruption charges.
Country in Turmoil
After students in Bangladesh erupted into violent protests that turned into a political uprising, Sheikh Hasina resigned. Fearing for her life, she fled to India on August 5. Soon after, a mob attacked her house, looting and ransacking the property. The political climate in Bangladesh remains volatile as attacks on minority Hindus increase the tension between India and Bangladesh.
An interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, supported by the armed forces, currently governs Bangladesh, and the future of Hasina remains uncertain as the country does not know whether the queen will return to restore political stability.
